Happy Stories From our customers

We often don’t think of the “behind the scenes” when it comes to shooting jewelry on models. Good lighting is crucial for instance. But so is the outfit, which can’t overwhelm or compete with the jewelry. This recent shoot with Kate Hudson modeling jewelry is a fine example of what needs to be done in order to make the jewelry the star of the show:

American actress Katie Holmes is mostly known as a movie star. Brilliant. Now, she ventures into new areas as a designer jewelry model for H. Stern for their new Brazilian and Israeli campaigns.

Katie Holmes for Jewelry Brand H. Stern

Holmes follows in the footsteps of Catherine Deneuve and Kate Moss as the face of jewelry brand H. Stern.

Katie Holmes for H. Stern

Holmes posed in subtle makeup and a white shift for the Brazilian ad, which really let the emerald baubles pop.

While I love her as a jewelry model, I can’t wait to see her starring in Jack and Jill together with Adam Sandler.

Katie Holmes for Designer Jewelry Brand H. Stern

Here’s a nice video from behind the scenes of the H. Stern shootings with Katie Holmes:

 

Source: Jewelerista

Even those not familiar with the jewelry industry know that gold prices continue to soar. But many don’t understand why, consider the economic woes that have befallen the US and other countries throughout the world. This piece from CBS’s MoneyWatch addresses some of the basics and reminds us that gold prices and our economy are intrinsically intertwined:

• Geopolitical uncertainty. Between the fighting in Libya that threatens the stability of the world oil supply, the political upheaval in Egypt, Japan’s struggle to get its economic engine moving in the wake of the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, and the sovereign debt crisis that bedevils the European Union — Portugal just officially asked for an EU bailout — we’ve got a confluence of worries. In isolation, each might be more easily absorbed, but in aggregate they ratchet up the global blood pressure, and that’s when gold becomes most alluring.
• The U.S. isn’t exactly a roaring safe haven. Typically in times of global angst, money flows to U.S. investments. When the financial crisis hit in the fall of 2008, for example, the U.S. dollar strengthened against foreign currencies. But with our debt load causing many to worry about higher inflation and a lower dollar in the future, the U.S. is losing some of its safe-haven luster, making gold look all the better.
• Where else are you going to park your money? A Treasury bill yielding less than 0.50 percent isn’t exactly crowding out gold right now. Part of gold’s popularity is being driven by a lack of better investment opportunities.
• Fears of higher inflation. Gold is a classic hedge against higher inflation and a weakening dollar, since it holds its purchasing power when the dollar’s value declines. And right now, concerns about inflation are beginning to creep back into the global economic dialogue. While the Federal Reserve is grappling with whether it needs to respond to a rise in inflation in the coming months, the European Central Bank (ECB) pulled the trigger yesterday by raising its benchmark interest rate for the first time in three years, from a record low of 1 percent to 1.25 percent. Sure, that’s still low, but the concern is where things might head from here.

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/blog/daily-money/gold-hits-new-record-whats-driving-prices-so-high/2429/#ixzz1bEXqGpAi

Before you go hit the “matches” button, think again. I stumbled across this piece this morning that really exemplifies the importance of contrasting jewelry and fashion. So today, when you’re opening up your jewelry box, pick the contrasting piece and give it a spin.

These two mannequins in a store window kindly demonstrated the difference between jewelry that matches your outfit (on the left) and jewelry that contrasts with it (on the right):

Even though the gal on the left is wearing more jewelry (a double-strand necklace plus a bracelet and ring), you can hardly see her jewels at all.

Meanwhile, the fashion-savvy gal on the right wears just one piece of jewelry (a single-strand necklace), but it really makes a visual impact – even from farther away:

Now if only these two gals had good heads on their shoulders, the fashion-savvy one on the right could drop a hint to her friend on the left about accessorizing. :)

Source: Rena Klingenberg

At first, I was surprised how many people loved to see our jewels and pieces of custom design jewelry on video. What could you glean from a video that you couldn’t from a photo? Well, apparently, it’s that up-close and personal feeling that videos provide. So if you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, please do. We provide videos of works in progress and dazzling finished custom design pieces along with gems, gems and more gems.

Here are a few of our most popular videos: